By Lisa Twaronite
TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares shrugged off early losses on Tuesday, as rallying Chinese shares and Wall Street's record close offset continuing worries over Greece's fiscal woes.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was up 0.2 percent.
The CSI300 index surged 3.1 percent and the Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.8 percent, as investors welcomed Beijing's 2015 guidelines for economic reform that prioritize further opening of the country's capital market and the restructuring of state enterprises.
"You need a vibrant stock market to push forward economic reforms, whether it's about asset securitisation or industry consolidation," said Tian Weidong, analyst at Kaiyuan Securities in Xian. "With such a policy backdrop, investors are emboldened to stay in the market."
Japan's Nikkei stock index added 0.9 percent, rising to a three-week high.
More From This Section
On Monday, both the Dow Jones industrial average and the S&P 500 closed at record highs, the third straight day for the latter, after lacklustre economic data raised hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve would hold off raising interest rates.
The National Association of Home Builders said its index of members' sentiment fell to 54 points in May from 56 in April, short of a forecast increase to 57 among economists polled by Reuters.
U.S. Treasuries sank as stocks gained, and higher yields underpinned the dollar. The yield on benchmark 10-year Treasuries notes stood at 2.228 percent, matching its U.S. close on Monday.
The euro, which jumped to nearly four-month highs against the dollar last week, skidded more than 1 percent on Monday. It was last down about 0.1 percent on the day at $1.1310.
Fears of a Greek bankruptcy persisted even as the country's finance minister said on Monday that it was close to a deal with its lenders that would help it meet debt repayments next month.
The dollar was steady on the day against its Japanese counterpart at 119.96 yen.
Expectations of more easing from the Bank of Japan kept the Japanese currency in check. The BOJ is seen expanding its massive stimulus programme in October, according to most economists polled by Reuters - even though Governor Haruhiko Kuroda has said there is no need to do so.
The BOJ is likely to stand pat at its next policy meeting ending on Friday.
U.S. crude futures edged up after slipping on Monday on the stronger dollar and oversupply concerns triggered by Saudi Arabia's report of its highest exports in nearly a decade. U.S. crude rose about 0.1 percent in Asian trade to $59.50 a barrel, while Brent edged down 0.1 percent to $66.18.
Spot gold fell about 0.2 percent to $1,221.70 an ounce a day after it scaled a three-month high as disappointing U.S. economic data quashed expectations that the Fed would hike interest rates anytime soon.
(Additional reporting by Samuel Shen and Pete Sweeney in Shanghai; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)